Animal trap



Jan. 9, 1923..

1,441,985. H. LANE.

ANIMAL TRAP.

FILED NOV. 5,1920.

lli atented ilan. F,

mum Mi HENRY LANE, F 'VETlEDFHEFFTFJLD, ENGLAND.

.hNlElllllAlD TRAP.

Application filed November 5, 1920. No. 421,964.

To all whom if; may concern:

Be it known that T, Hunter LANE, a subfect oi? the. King oft GreatBritain, residing at lllagle Works, Wednesficld, in the coituity ctStafford, England, have invented. certain. new and useful Improvementsin Animal Traps (tor which I have filed applications in Great Britain,llo. lehhlioil, dated Noveniher 7, 1919, and in Australia, Serial lo. il-$51, iiled February 4, 1920); and l do hereby declare that thefollowing is a hill, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention comprises improvements in animal traps and refers to thatclass which employ a spring eitherot wire or strip metal and a sheetmetal base, the object 01'? the present invention being to more rigidlysecure the extremities of the wire or strip to the base in an improved,simpler and stronger manner and to provide general improvements in suchtraps.

According to this invention I press out a tongue piece from the basemember to pro vide an opening through. which one end of the spring ispassed, the said bent tongue portion being afterwards bent back into itsnormal position so as to engage the end of the spring whereby the latteris secured firmly y to the base member.

The platform bearing surface for the treadle and the retaining notch torthe pawl are all "formed from one piece of sheet metal, the bearingsurface for the treadle being of channel section, the two oppositeflanges (it which are disposed substantially vertically and projectbelow the platform, the said flanges being connected to the platform byweb portions. The pawl is mounted on a bridge piece extending across thebifurcated curled or bent over end of a transverse member secured to thebase. The transverse member is secured by means oi tongue pieces orpieces pressed out thereof and passing through holes in the base member,being riveted over on the other side.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a basemember with a wire spring in place ready to be lined.

Figure 2 is a similar view of the finished trap.

Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 2 but showing a strip sprin Figuret is a section at 4 in Figure l. p

Figure 5 is a section at 5-5 in Figure 3.

Figure 6 is perspective view of the plat form oi the trap.

Figure 7 is a similar view of retaining pawl.

Figure 8 illustrates the means for pivotally securing the pawl.

Figure 9 is section through the transverse platiform supporting member.

Tn carrying my invention into practice as illustrated. upon theaccompanying drawings at Figures 1, 2 and d the base member 1 and thewire spring .2 are of the usual shape, the base member having its twoextremities 8 bent up at right angles and'the wire being coiled up inthe middle, and having one end l adapted to be secured to the basemember while the other end 5 terms a loop which engages with the jaws 6of the trap in the well known manner.

One of the upright ends 3 of the base meu'iber has a square tongueportion 8 bent out oi? it as seen in Figure 1, the metal being splitalong three lines to enable this to be done, the portion being bentalong the fourth line of the square. This provides a hole through whichthe ends of the springs can he passed. The extremities of the spring arepreferably bent. down so that when the spring is in position these passthrough holes 10 in the base plate being riveted over on their as undersides. The portion. 8 is now bent back into its normal position as shownin Figure 2 whereby the ends of the spring will be gripped between. thisportion and the main part of the base.

lit desired and as illustrated notches it may be provided adjacent thetwo lower corners of the bent out portions into which the two parts ofthe spring may lit, the holes being of smaller diameter than that of thewire so that it will be gripped by the bent out portion.

In Figure 3 the application to a strip metal spring is illustrated, thepart 8 here again being reduced width to be passed through, theentreniity of the latter beng bent down to pass through a slot 13 in thebase member, the portion 8 being bent down as before to fix the spring.

The base member has a transverse member 15 of welldmown form, as shownclearly in Figure 2, being secured to the base membent. up to allow theend 12 oil? The platform whereby the spring is her by the tongue piecesl6, 17 which are pressed out of the said member and pass through holesin the basemen'iber being riveted over on the under side as shown inFigure 9.

Adjacent one end of the said transverse member an upwardly extending lug18 is secured by riveting or otherwise, this lug being the pivot memberfor the )lJft-fOllH. 19 shown in Figures 2 and 6 is made of sheet metaland has its one side bent to provide two vertical walls 20, 21 adaptedto fit around the aforementioned lug to which it is secured by a pin orthe like 22 passing through holes in the vertical Walls and a hole 25 inthe lug. The platform is also provided with a notch 26 adjacent thepivot to receive the nose oi? the pawl to he hereinafter explained.

The end of the transverse iember extends upwardly at right angles to themain part as shown at 28 and the extremity is bent over upon itself at29. slot 30 is out in this end member leaving a bridge portion 3]. onthe end of the bent over part as clearly shown in Figure 8. This bridgeportion serves as a pivot for the pawl 33 which shown in Figure '4" isformed from a single piece of sheet metal having an extension 3% ofreduced width, which is bent around the bridge portion 31 to pivotallysecure it.

To set the trap the looped end of the spring is depressed out ofengagement with the jaws of the trap, the 1611 being opened to anapproximately horizontal position, one of them being maintained in suchposition against the action of the spring by the engagement thereover ofthe pawl which latter is then engaged in the notch 26 of the platform19.

It will be apparent that when the weightof an animal acts upon theplatform, it will be depressed, so that the pawl 33 is released. :treedtoclose the aws.

Claimsz- 1.3m animal {rap cmnpr ing l sheet metal base member. a pairoi" jaws pivoted to said base. means for retaining said jaws in an openposition. said means being I'Olttlsable by the weight of an animal. aspring ending to close said jaws. one end of sa d spring passing thrmighan opening in the base member. and a partially son-red Tongue on s basewhich engages \viih the end oi' the spring and serves to grip it betweenibis portion and the main part of the hasc incur her. and n l' :h0;-; inthe end oi said tongue adapted to it around the said spring.

3.1%.11 animal trap rmnprising :1 sheet metal base, a p: ir ot jawspivoted to said base, a spring tending to close said jaws. means forretaining said jaws in open position. said retaining means beingrcleusalilc by the weight of an animal and including pivoted pawl and aplatform pivoted to vertical lug, said platform llflll'lfj pressed fromsheet metal with an integral downwardly projecting flange the centralportion of which is pressed outwardly to form a. curved nose of channelsection forming :1 hollow pivot lug adapted to fit over said verticallug and the curved edge of said nose being notched to receive the treeend oi said pawl.

In witness. whereof I afiix my signature.

HENRY LANE.

ill

